


days of miracle and wonder

by victoria_p (musesfool)



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Post-Spyral, Timeline What Timeline, everyone's alive again, we were the best richard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-11-02 12:40:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20749577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musesfool/pseuds/victoria_p
Summary: To apologize for faking his death, Dick takes Damian on a surprise trip.





	days of miracle and wonder

**Author's Note:**

> What even are comics timelines? Set after everyone is back from the dead. *hands* Many thanks to lembeau for looking it over, and to Snacky and Nichole for helping with the title, which is from "Boy in the Bubble" by Paul Simon.

Damian doesn't take kindly to being woken. Dick steps out of the way of the kick aimed at him, even though it's blunted by the sheets still entangling Damian's leg. Nine a.m. comes early for vigilantes who only went to bed at four, or, in Dick's case, didn't go to bed at all. 

"Up and at 'em, little D," he says, keeping his voice on the not-manic side of cheerful. The extra caffeine from one of Tim's energy drinks makes it harder than it should be, but he thinks he nails it.

"It is Saturday," Damian replies, each word bitten off sharply, though the effect is lost because his voice is muffled by the comforter. Titus growls low at the foot of the bed, and Alfred the cat eyes Dick disdainfully from his perch on Damian's pillow before going back to sleep. "I do not have any place I have to be, and neither do you."

"That's where you're wrong," Dick says, tugging open the curtains and raising the shade so sunlight pours into the room. "The jet is gassed up and ready to go and we need to be on it."

Damian's tousled head pokes out from beneath the sheets; he squints angrily at the brightness. "Is there a mission?"

"No, no, nothing like that." Dick grins and Damian frowns.

"Why is your mouth doing that? I thought Joker was still in Arkham. Do you need an antidote?"

"I'm smiling because I'm excited. Joker _is_ still in Arkham and _we_ are going to Florida."

"Florida?" Damian's frown turns puzzled. "Home of the infamous 'Florida Man' that Drake and Todd can't stop texting about?"

"No," Dick repeats, though those memes are pretty funny, and he gets why Jason and Tim flood the group chat with them, and then walks it back with a bob of his head. "Well, yes, but that's not why we're going." He grabs a duffel bag from Damian's closet and drops it at the foot of the bed. "Pack for the weekend. We'll be coming back tomorrow night."

"I can miss school for a case," Damian insists.

"You could, but this is not a case. This is a surprise. A good one," Dick hastily assures him. "This is gonna be fun."

Damian grunts and scowls, but he heads to the bathroom to get ready, which is all Dick can ask for right now. There was a time Damian would have fought against participating in any non-mission-related activities, even before Dick broke his trust. Dick knows he's still got a ways to go to work himself back into his siblings' good graces after faking his death to go undercover. Tim and Cass understand, and Jason will come around eventually, but he knows his death hit Damian hard, and the lie hit even harder. He's tried to hide it, but their rhythm is just slightly off since Dick came back, though probably only Bruce has noticed. 

Dick needs to start making things up to him. He's so grateful that he's getting the chance and he never wants to lose sight of that.

Alfred sends them on their way with a breakfast burrito (Dick) and a yogurt parfait (Damian), and an admonishment not to drive too fast that Dick ignores as soon as they're on the road to the Wayne Aerospace airfield.

Damian peppers him with questions he ignores by turning on the radio and singing along to Beyoncé until Damian subsides and starts playing Cheese Viking on his phone.

Damian grumbles about not being allowed to pilot the plane, but Dick is letting the professionals handle the flying today—he plans to sleep for the two-and-a-half-hour flight. 

He wakes as they're coming in for the landing, and there's a nice but nondescript car waiting when they disembark, a cute little silver Audi that eats up the miles to the Wayne Family Wildlife Preserve. 

Damian's face lights up when he sees the sign, and for once, he looks his age. "How come I didn't know about this place?"

Dick shrugs a shoulder. "You know Bruce—always willing to make an extravagant gesture to show how much he cares, and never willing to actually talk about it."

"Oh," Damian says. "Of course."

And Dick realizes that maybe Damian _doesn't_ know—that in between being lost in the time stream and having amnesia, Bruce hasn't really had time to show Damian that he cares, even if he can't bring himself to say it yet.

"This place is still pretty new, though," Dick reassures him. "He bought it after everything that went down with Haly's, and I haven't even visited yet." They pull up to the entry booth and Dick rolls down his window. He turns to the ticket-taker with a smile and says, "I called earlier. They should be expecting me."

"Of course, Mr. Grayson," the ticket clerk replies, handing over a brochure and a map. "There's private parking to the left."

The lot is empty, and after they've parked, Dick says, "Where do you want to start?"

"What is available?"

"Good question." He unfolds the map. "Huh. There's a reptile house, which I guess makes sense here in Florida, though Haly's hasn't had a snake-charmer since Sadie Wilkinson retired, back when I was a kid."

"Haly's?" Damian prompts. 

"Oh, yeah," Dick says, and he can't remember if Damian knows any of this, so he continues, "Haly's still tours, but since the fire, they've scaled back. The animal acts were all put out to pasture." He opens his arms wide. "Here, thanks to Bruce. The circus still winters down here as well; we can visit them tomorrow."

Damian nods. "I would like that."

Dick is surprised but pleased by this easy acquiescence, and he's not going to question it. "Great."

"But we can skip the reptile house." 

"Don't worry, Damian, Killer Croc didn't follow us."

"Tt. You are not amusing, Grayson. Give me the map."

Dick hands it over with a grin and allows Damian to lead him through the bird house and the monkey habitat—neither of which were part of Haly's, but which found a home here after their previous funding was cut. Damian gives Dick a lecture as knowledgeable as any zookeeper's, his excitement sanding down his normally imperious edges. 

The staff give them a wide berth until they reach the paddock where the horses are grazing. 

"Is that Thunderbolt and Lightning?" Dick asks a young woman in khaki. Her name tag says "Ilona."

"It sure is," she replies. "You want to say hello?"

Dick gives her a wide grin. "Yeah." 

Ilona produces apples and sugar cubes and then leads the horses over. She leaves them be, though Dick notices she hovers near enough to hear his stories about the circus.

"I learned to ride almost as soon as I learned to walk," Damian says, his mouth curving in a tiny smile as Thunderbolt lips at the sugar in his palm.

Dick reaches out and ruffles his hair. Damian lets him, ducking away half-heartedly just a moment too late. "Me, too. Bareback and barefoot, so I could get to know the horse's gait." He offers Lightning an apple. "Not these horses, of course. There have been a lot of horses over the years. When I was a kid, it was Misty and Mountain. I learned all sorts of tricks."

"Someday you'll show me." Though it's phrased as a command, Dick knows it's a question and he nods in agreement.

"Someday." He grimaces ruefully. It's been a while since he did any trick riding. "If I still remember anything."

"You do," Damian says, and that's not a question.

Dick smiles.

They pet the horses for a while and then Damian leads them to the big cat sanctuary, which is fenced off, mostly for peace of mind. The lion and tigers could demolish the fence if they chose to, but they're pretty chill at the moment, lying on the grass in the distance and soaking up the sun.

"The lioness is Nala; Simba died last year. The tigers are Gunther and Gebel—no, I don't know which is which—but they're named after a famous lion tamer. He died before you were born."

"I've heard of him," Damian says. "You needn't look so surprised. You blathered on so much about the circus that research seemed in order."

Dick's chest tightens with warmth, and he gives Damian a one-armed hug; Damian rolls his eyes but once again allows the overt show of affection, and his smile remains, tiny and pleased, as they ramble through the grass to the watering hole.

As they crest the top of the hill, Dick can see the main reason he commandeered the jet and dragged Damian out of bed on a Saturday morning after a long night on patrol: the elephants, majestic as ever. Their trunks are curled in the lagoon as they drink, and for a brief moment Dick is transported back to his own childhood, when this was an everyday sight.

Damian gasps in delight, and that makes the whole trip worth it, even before Zitka recognizes Dick and trumpets a welcome, spraying them both with water. Elinore follows suit and Damian bursts into honest to goodness giggles. There's a tightness in Dick's chest that makes him think his heart has grown three sizes today.

"This is Zitka," he says, leaning against her and letting her wrap her trunk around him. "She'd been with Haly's since I was a kid and used to babysit me. She kept me out of all sorts of trouble." He rubs her side fondly. "And that's Elinore. She came along a little later but before I left the circus. She used to let me do handsprings off her back." He blinks back sudden tears at the memories as she cuddles him. "Didn't you, girl?" He turns back to Damian. "They're two of my oldest friends."

Damian is wide-eyed with wonder, and he giggles again when Zitka nuzzles him.

"Do you want to help feed them?"

Dick turns at the sound of the familiar voice. "Alice! Damian, this is Alice Horner. She used to be in charge of the elephants at Haly's, and now she works with them here. Alice, this is my brother, Damian."

Damian holds out a hand like a proper little gentleman—Alfred would be so proud—and says, as genuinely and politely as Dick has ever heard him, "I'd love to help feed them."

Alice leads them, and the elephants, to a set of troughs filled with a variety of vegetation.

Dick nudges Damian gently. "See, Damian, they're vegetarians, just like you."

"I noticed." Damian's deadpan is a thing of beauty. "And proof that you don't need to eat meat to be strong and healthy."

"I never said you did," Dick replies, not rising to the bait. "Just that it's harder to get the amount of protein and calories we need on a strict vegetarian diet."

Damian scoffs but doesn't argue, so Dick doesn't press. He actually doesn't care what Damian eats, as long as he eats—he's fought that battle with Bruce and Tim and now he leaves it to Alfred, because in the end, it's Alfred who has to feed them.

After they feed the elephants, they return to the lagoon to frolic, and it feels like Damian laughs more in the next ninety minutes than he has in the whole time Dick has known him.

They leave the preserve soaking wet and slightly sunburned—Dick knew he'd forgotten something—and more relaxed than they've been in a long time.

Damian shares all the elephant facts he's learned on the ride to the hotel, and wonders if there are elephants to visit in the Gotham Zoo (there are, and Dick makes a note to take Damian to see them soon), and whether they can stop in to see Zitka and Elinore again in the morning before they visit Haly's winter campus.

"Of course," Dick says. The great thing about bringing the jet instead of flying commercial is that they don't have to make it to the airport at any particular time.

Damian shoots a couple of sidelong glances at him as they ride the elevator up to the penthouse suite. Dick waits, knowing that silence is more likely to draw Damian out than talking will, but it's hard. Even now, he's more used to filling silences than letting them drag on.

The door to the suite swings shut behind them, and finally, Damian speaks. 

"Grayson." He swallows hard, voice tight with suppressed emotion. "Richard. Thank you for sharing this with me." Damian won't look at him while he says it, his gaze firmly on the phone in his hand, but that's okay; he still lets Dick reel him in for a hug.

He can't take back the hurt from his lie, but he can work on making Damian trust him again, and on not breaking that trust again. It's a start.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[podfic] days of miracle and wonder](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22037671) by [reena_jenkins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/reena_jenkins/pseuds/reena_jenkins)


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